Whats wrong with my Vertex 60GB?

[raxen]

Fresh install of win7.

Ran "SSD Tweak" program to disable prefetch, superfetch, defrag.

Disabled write caching.

Installed AMD Chipset Drivers. <--- Maybe this??

IDE Mode - NOT ACHI <-- Possibility?

Hardware:
AMD X2 550BE@ X4 - 3200mhz
CPU-NB @ 2400mhz.
8GB DDR2-800 @ 4-4-4-8
OCZ Vertex 60gb running 1.5 firmware

[gingerbee]

well turn ahci on and run tests

[raxen]

ACHI really makes a difference in this? I'm not doubting you, but IIRC ACHI is only responsible for NCQ and hot swap - both should not affect performance for SSDs.

Unfortunately, I can only remotely log in right now so I can't access BIOS, but I'll try it when I'm physically at the computer. Any other thoughts?

[lowfat]

I really don't see much of a problem w/ your results.

They seem pretty normal to me.

[AkG]

Right now you think you have a issue with your vertex. I think the reads are little low, but the writes look good.

You have Three options:

VERY Easy option: Leave it as is, rely on ITGC to keep your drive fast and live with the slightly lowered read speeds. Let it idle from time to time so ITGC can do its job.

Less Easy option: yank the drive and install the drive in a different system and retest. Then, delete everything off it (preferable doing this on a system with TRIM commands can be sent like win 7 and MS AHCI drivers installed)...retest. See what the results are. They will give you a good idea of what the drive is potential capable of. Reinstall. Retest. Do a tweak.retest.do another tweak.retest.etc etc. Figure out what works best for YOUR drive and YOUR system. It may end up being exactly what you have now.

More Realistic option: remove one variable at a time to see what is (if anything is) causing the issue. I would start with AHCI, use MS AHCI and see what your tests are like then. IF still low, start with another variable. Could be your setup doesn't like another driver, like the ATI ones. Remove one variable....retest.....change another variable if not satisfied....retest....etc...etc until you get a tweaked system that is "just right" for you. It may end up being exactly what you have now.

Either way I would atleast install AHCI as right now your are totally relying on ITGC to keep your SSD fast as IDE drivers are (at best) hit or miss for sending the TRIM command to the drive.

[lowfat]

You think your Vertex is bad.... Then is wrong with mine?!1


This is the second time this has happened after reinstalling Windows.

[AkG]

Its in degraded mode. Time for a good ol cell cleaning. Windows during install uses a crapload of cells for its temp files, etc etc and it would not surprise me in the least if it DOESNT send the trim command during all this. MS real motto "instituting half arsed measures for decades...but well get it right in the NEXT release....promise....HONEST!" ;)

[gingerbee]

yes i think your writes look fine but your rad seem low. and lowfat there something not right for sure. sorry guys never had this happen. i have never seen any of my ssd read that low even with out a cleaning .
mind you i only have a-data,falcon's, patriot torqm and warps but i am pretty sure that ocz and falcon and s592 are pretty much the same

[raxen]

I thought I had a problem with 4k reads being pretty low. Benches I've seen have 4k read around 20-30mb/s. I am performing well in the write category though.

Thanks for the input guys. With all the hype surrounding SSD's, I thought the difference would be night and day. So far, I'm not that impressed with the performance over 2x RAID-0 WD 640GB Blacks short-stroked. Boot times did shorten up quite a bit over the RAID setup, but non-RAID the difference would be 5s tops.

Maybe I'll come to terms with this drive and like it after a few days. In the meantime, I'll start debugging the heck outta this, starting with hardware (cable swap, different port, etc) and work my way to software (ACHI, Drivers, fresh install)

Will let you guys know progress when I learn more.

[lowfat]

Originally Posted by raxen

I thought I had a problem with 4k reads being pretty low. Benches I've seen have 4k read around 20-30mb/s. I am performing well in the write category though.

Thanks for the input guys. With all the hype surrounding SSD's, I thought the difference would be night and day. So far, I'm not that impressed with the performance over 2x RAID-0 WD 640GB Blacks short-stroked. Boot times did shorten up quite a bit over the RAID setup, but non-RAID the difference would be 5s tops.

Maybe I'll come to terms with this drive and like it after a few days. In the meantime, I'll start debugging the heck outta this, starting with hardware (cable swap, different port, etc) and work my way to software (ACHI, Drivers, fresh install)

Will let you guys know progress when I learn more.

From what I've seen SSD's almost always have slightly lower small file performance on AMD chipsets. And AFAIK there isn't anything you can really do about it. You really won't notice the performance difference of an SSD until you go back to a machine w/ a mechanical drive. They you will get frustrated on how slow the thing is.